About Me

Monday, May 16, 2011

So brief summary...God sends Moses to Pharaoh. Pharaoh wouldn't respect Moses or Aaron because he did not know who God was...(have you ever had to talk to someone in this day and age who doesn't know or could careless to know God?) M and A were obedient and persistant because God commanded them to do so. However, they didn't get the response they hoped for and needed. This meant harder work and more oppression for the Hebrews. They were suffering! Are you following God but suffering at the same time? I don't think that always means God has lost favor in us, but that we may be suffering for doing good in an evil world!As the story continues Pharaoh keeps increasing the work load and taking away supplies needed to get the job done! They were whipped if unable to produce the adequate amount of work. I think this paints of the picture of how it can go when God is at work! We may suffer, have setbacks and hardships. James 1:2-4 talks about how we should consider it PURE JOY when trials come our way...Say WHAT?!?!? I may consider it something, but joy isn't the first thing that comes to my mind. But I do know that problems "trials" develop several things in us: strength, patience, perservance, character...I think if God were to speak to me flat out in the middle of hardships he would say: 1-trust me to do what is best for you. 2-look for ways to honor me in this present situation. 3-remember I will not abandon you EVER. 4- keep watching for my plan.

What have you learned about God during your hardships? Do you consider trials Pure Joy???

Anyways, Moses was reluctant, so many excuses. He was worried about how the people might respond (ugh I'm raising my hand, guilty as charged). We so often build up events in our minds and then panic over every little thing that might go wrong (hand raised again). News flash: God does not ask us to go where he has not provided the means to help. Challenge: Go where he leads, trust him to supply all the means and resources at the right moment!

In verses 10-13 Moses kept on whining. He pleaded with God to let him out of the mission (guilty as charged here again). "God I'm not a good speaker, I'm clumsy with words...I'll embarrass us both Lord". All Moses needed was some help which is exactly what God was trying to say he would provided. Moses must have had ear wax build up, or maybe that's me. Who better to help us than God, after all he is the one who made our mouths! It's pretty easy for us to focus on our weaknesses, but if God asked us to do something (and he will), then we have to be confident in the fact that HE will help is accomplish it! If the job involves some of our weak areas, then we have to trust it will provided everything (words, strength, courage, and ability).

If you know the story you know that Moses got out of it...Aaron his brother was his spokesperson.

Question to ponder: Who has taken over the jobs we failed to complete for God? And who missed out on the blessing of obediance, us or them?

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Have you ever really stopped to think about Moses and the burning bush? FREAKY!God spoke to Moses from an unexpected source. Leads me to believe that God may use unexpected sources when communicating to us too. Likelyhood of it being a burning bush, not so much, but, people, thoughts, experiences, etc...I believe as christians we have to be willing to investigate, and be open to God's surprises!

When God told Moses to lead the Israelistes out of Eygpt I believe he felt inadequate. He made excuses (naturally). He was inadequate by himself. But God didn't ask him to do the work alone. As my dad always says...God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. So yes God may call us to tasks that seem to difficult, but he never asks us to do them alone. Challenge for myself and you Don't hide behind our inadequacies, let's look beyond ourselves. Then we can allow God to use our unique contributions!

What do you feel inadequate about? How can I pray for you or challenge you?

Since I've already talked about him once...in the words of my dad after every sermon "Go and be the church"

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

This morning in my quiet time I read Exodus Chapter 2: God chooses Moses. Too often I feel as if the Old Testament doesn’t have much going on for me, today, however, was different.

There are many lessons I took away from Moses and his mother. Here are a few:

Special opportunities may come our way unexpectedly. Don’t let the fear of what might happen cause you to miss an opportunity God gives you and take full advantage of them.

Applied to my life right now…sewing and juice plus. Two things I have been letting fear get the best of me on.

Sewing: wondering if my stuff is good enough or if I am just wasting valuable time that I could be spending with my husband. Wondering if God has placed it in my life as a way to get out of debt at a faster rate.

Juice Plus+: the fear of someone saying “what now Ashley” not to my surprise that happened right away. The fear of failing, not being successful with the business. But I am so excited about it, so so so very excited. I learned about it through a friend whose baby was saved because of her getting on the whole based nutrition capsule at week 20 in her pregnancy. He had a mass on his lung and wasn’t expected to make it, let alone be so healthy. A nurse friend of her told her some doctors had been recommending Juice Plus+ and that she should try it. She got on it and he came out perfectly healthy. Her story has left the doctors and surgeons all amazed and completely on board with JP+. We had a huge prayer chain for her back in the day and it is awesome to see God answer the prayers! Shortly after his delivery her mom decided to become a wellness consultant to share how it saved her grandson’s life. Annie jumped on board since it was her story and son! JAfter she saw many allergy suffering posts, she shared it with me. Ryan and I, if you remember, tried actually juicing raw fruits and vegetables and drinking them…YUCK, I think I liked one combination. He wants so badly for our doctor’s bills to go down and me to feel better on a daily basis. But the time, effort, messiness, cost, etc just did not justify. Juice Plus+ does that exact same with organic vegetables and puts it in a capsule so you don’t taste the grossness of what is really good for you. And it’s a lot cheaper! That is why I am excited I see story after story of how it got rid of allergies, sinuses, asthma, improved energy, healed diseases, amazed doctors with the cancer recovery, and the one I am most excited about is BABIES! Everything I am saying is clinically researched…it improves Fertility and has excellent outcomes with the pregnancy process. I have tons of research on that if you’re interested, and much, much more. There are tons of studies and more coming out on the benefits of JP+. It just made sense to me. I don’t eat my recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, why don’t bring the gap and feel better! On the business side of it there are no parties or inventory and the list goes on.

I’m really not here to discuss all that, more of my fears and excitement. After prayerfully weighing my fears to the benefits it’s easy to see what I chose. Many people are successful with at home business and that is what I want so badly. I want to be able to work, but from home so I can spend time with my family… when the rest come along. I want to accomplish more than just teaching day after day. I want to help, make a difference, save a life, and make someone feel better! Needless to say Pampered Chef wasn’t for me. The time and cooking thing was just not my cup of tea. So yes, here I go again, and I am so excited about it! www.asnelljuiceplus.com if you’re interested in reading up on the research. Watch the video, it’s great!

Back to Moses, I am taking the opportunity God has laid in front of me and to the full advantage! I’m praying to gets us out of debt faster and provides the way for me to stay home.

The other lessons I learned this morning:

God doesn’t need much from us to accomplish His plan!

When you don’t see the way out of a problem or situation…Focus on God and trust Him for the way out. That is all He needs to begin His work in you.

We may feel abandoned or isolated because of something we have done. But though we feel afraid and separated, we should not give up. Moses didn’t! He trusted God to deliver him, no matter how dark his past or bleak his future.

God knows the best time to act. When you feel that God has forgotten you in your troubles remember that God has a time schedule that we can’t see!